After Falling Short on Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup Grace, Former European Captain Divulges His Take on the 45-Year-Old’s Leadership Qualities

The Ryder Cup fever is slowly reaching its zenith as the two team captains have come out with their picks a while back. There was a lot of discussion in the golf community as many were left disappointed while some were content with the captain’s picks on both sides. This was the case with a former Ryder Cup captain as he shared his thoughts on the current skipper’s drafts.

The golfer, in a surprise of sorts, went ahead to support the Team Europe captain, Luke Donald, as he took to an interview ahead of the Horizon Irish Open. One might wonder what he must have said after the professional was not picked by Donald as part of his wildcard.

Former Ryder Cup captain in support of Luke Donald

The European squad leader managed to bring a lot of flak from his captain’s picks that he declared not too long ago. But even so, many golfers supported the English professional as he took to the community to announce the team. Among them was Padraig Harrington who was also very vocal in his support ahead of the tournament in The K Club, Ryder Course.

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In the recent press conference that took place, the Irish golfer went ahead to mention how Luke has been underestimated all his life as he backed up the Ryder Cup captain. Continuing on his response, Padraig said, “You don’t get to World No. 1, you don’t do what he has done in the game of golf without being hard-nosed underneath,” as he expressed his support for Donald.

The 52-year-old was also under the belief that the picks came out right. Moreover, he was very impressed with the manner in which Donald carried himself when he was the vice-captain and the 6X PGA Tour winner also expects the same as the leader. Harrington said, ” I believe he’s doing a great job from what I hear and see… He will have those guys ready to go.”

One cannot help but respect the Irish professional as he came out in support of the 45-year-old even when he was not picked as part of the draft. The former Ryder Cup star took it in good spirits as he even went ahead to compliment the Englishman’s leadership qualities. Well, let us now take a quick peek at the golf pro’s appearance at the esteemed event.

Padraig Harrington’s appearance at the Ryder Cup

The Irish professional golfer has represented Europe in a total of seven tournaments out of which the team has managed to emerge victorious in four of them. The squad managed to lift the trophy in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2010. Although Harrington was named the non-playing captain for his crowd in 2021, they were not able to win the biennial event as America beat them by a whopping 19-9 margin to take home the cup.

The senior professional has been making waves in the golf world with his amazing performance this year. The 3X major champ emerged victorious in the 2023 DICK’s Sporting Goods Open while finishing as a runner-up in the Chubb Classic, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, and the Senior Open Championship. With a total of nine top-10 finishes in the year, the veteran would be looking for another win in the upcoming Horizon Irish Open.

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